


Fifteen Years Is A Long Time

by TrashcanKitty



Series: The New Company of Light [19]
Category: Winx Club
Genre: Gen, Hagen trying to make amends, Mentions of the past, Mentions of the past war, Reconnecting to old friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:13:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22906831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrashcanKitty/pseuds/TrashcanKitty
Summary: Hagen awakens at Alfea, startled that he's still alive after Mandragora's attack on his forge. But he's truly startled when he learns from former friends that his goddaughter, that Princess Bloom of Domino, is still alive. (And searching for her parents.)
Relationships: Past Faragonda/Hagen
Series: The New Company of Light [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1362700
Comments: 6
Kudos: 9





	Fifteen Years Is A Long Time

**Fifteen Years Is A Long Time**

He wanted to groan and curse, in fact, he thinks he did.

There’s a light shining on him, he can feel it. He can feel the cold metal of a bed underneath him. Can hear the thrumming of medical equipment beeping around him.

His head aches, his body is nauseous (and it’s debatable about whether its from the liquor or the fight with Mandragora).

He can feel bruising forming on his body, can feel his arm twisted in a sling. Was he alive? He had to be alive…

_Open your eyes. You need to open your eyes. See where you are._

But he didn’t want too. What if he _was_ dead? Where had he ended up?

After a little arguing with himself, he decided he had to open his eyes.

It was bleary at first, trying not to make himself noticeable until he found out where he was. Pink. The room was pink and white and… Four figures were in the corner. Whispering, talking.

 _Son of a bitch_.

Faragonda, Saladin, Griffin, and Ofelia. Had to be. No one could ever hope to capture their essences, not even with a shapeshifting spell.

Saladin was definitely looking worse for wear. Small, hair white as snow, older. It was obvious that Maeve’s spell was still having an effect after all these years…

Griffin… Her hair had darkened and she’d started wearing it in a spiral bun. Eyes tired and bleary.

Ofelia hadn’t changed quite so much. Still somewhat youthful and full of life, but he could hear that no-nonsense tone in her voice…

And Faragonda…

Oh, his Faragonda…

She was quite the sight for sore eyes. Her hair had whitened out a bit, and she let it fluff up the way her brother’s had. He could hear that cheery tone in her voice, the one that melted him over and over again.

And glasses… She’d started to wear glasses and that just… It suited her and the blue of her eyes.

(He had to be dead. He was dead and in hell. His former friends, his Faragonda, taunting him just so…)

“Well look who decided to join the realm of the living.” Griffin’s voice cut through his inner thoughts, her teasing tone bringing back memories of moments between battles when the witch would simultaneously rip into him while complimenting his strategy.

Faragonda and Saladin turned to face him, Saladin giving a grin and wave while Faragonda seemed more… Reserved in her greeting. A small smile.

(He could remember a time when she’d have run to him, arms open and hands holding tightly to him. He never felt more alive than in those moments.)

“You may want to take it easy, Hagen. Between the hangover you’ve got to be feeling and Mandragora’s attack, you can’t be doing too well.” Ofelia chastised him, helping him into a sitting position.

Hagen groaned, looking to the group. Concern. They were concerned. (Still? For him? After all these years?)

“What happened?” Hagen asked. “How did I get to Alfea? How… Am I alive?”

The trio looked to each other, faces falling into grim looks. “Some students of ours went to find you… For a project of theirs. They are the ones who saved you and brought you here.” Saladin answered. (She still hadn’t spoken. Why hadn’t she spoken?)

Hagen frowned. “What could some high school kids need with me? Red Fountain need new weapons?” He asked, looking to Saladin. The older wizard had a bemused smile on his face. (Did they think he didn’t know?) “Yeah, I know. You three had some promotions… The schools bonded to you and you became the new heads…”

“Hoggar does get news, you know.” He snorted. “I just…”

“Didn’t show or stop by or even let us know you were still alive for… Oh… Fifteen years?” Griffin snipped. (She was mad… Of course, she was. Faragonda probably went to her after it all happened…)

“Sorry if I thought searching for the royal family of Domino was important.” He found himself growling out. “I just didn’t think it fair for Valtor and _his daughter_ to live if Marion and hers had died.”

(Okay. Low blow. A very low blow. But he was justified in his leaving. He knew he was.)

Griffin glowered; arms crossed. “Valtor’s dead. Has been since last year.”

“And… Bloom is alive. She’s actually one of the students who came to see you.” Saladin told him.

“She and her friends really risked their necks.” Ofelia hummed, looking over some chart. “Though I wished for the Dragons’ sakes they’d leave well enough alone for once…”

Bloom?

Impossible.

“I searched everywhere for that child!”

“And she was on Earth.” Griffin replied. “Something you would have known had you come back at all. Or checked in.”

Bloom? On Earth?

(Daphne… He’d seen Daphne in his dreams from time to time, telling him not to worry. That her niece was safe… But he thought she’d wanted him to find her…)

“You sure it’s Bloom?”

“She looks just like Marion and has Oritel’s temper. You tell me.” Saladin chuckled.

“And Valkyrie is pretty certain that Bloom is her counterpart. And after all I’ve seen the past few years? I’d put money on it.” Griffin shrugged. “And for some reason, Bloom wanted to meet you.”

Meet him? Why?

“Why?”

“She knew you were her godfather. And that you went looking for her parents. She… Thinks they may be alive and wants to know if you’ve got any leads…” Saladin answered, voice quieting. “And so she went for you.”

“Alongside Valkyrie and their friends. They saved you from Mandragora.” Griffin pointed out.

Bloom was alive. Bloom was alive and looking for him and… (What all had he missed? Damn if he didn’t have a headache before…)

“I… What….?”

Faragonda looked to the other three, giving a slight smile. “Would you mind going out and checking on our students? I’ll fill Hagen in on the blanks.”

Griffin and Saladin shared a look, concerned.

(About him? Or about him being alone with Faragonda?)

“I’ll be okay.” Faragonda whispered, shooing them out.

Ofelia took one last look at his charts, giving him a look. “I’ll be back with something to kill your pain.” And out she went.

And now he was alone, with Faragonda. “You’ve… Done well… And you look good. Better than I probably do.” Hagen tried to joke, wanting to see her more genuine smile. Instead she gave him _that_ look.

The look that made him feel like a child who’d been caught doing wrong. A child who desperately wanted to be back in the ‘good’ column at school.

“She could have killed you. You were drunk and she could have killed you.” Her voice sounded so small. “And you know she could have. She did Matlin. Gena. Henry. Countless others… You should have known better.”

“I didn’t know she’d escaped Omega. Hell, I didn’t even know Valtor had escaped until it was all over the news that he’d been killed.” Hagen argued.

(He’d almost reached out then. He could only imagine how fearful Griffin had to have been, having spent her life trying to protect her child from him. Only for that child to be just as terrifying and deadly as he was.)

“I didn’t know about Darkar either… Not until after I felt the balance tipping.”

“And yet you did nothing?!” Faragonda had tears in her eyes now, her voice cracking. “You did nothing. No calls? No messages? No letters? We all thought you were dead!”

Hagen tensed, feeling his jaw clench. “I… I’m so sorry, Faragonda.”

“Damn right you are.” She shook her head, that bit of edge from her witch raising dripping into her voice. “You’re beyond sorry. We needed you, worried about you… And you disappeared on us.”

She swallowed. “Hell, _I_ needed you. _I_ needed someone to help me believe it was going to be okay. That things would get back to normal. That I wasn’t crazy for constantly waiting for Marion to call or for Oritel to come stomping into the room.”

“And you left. To find them. To hunt down people who we considered ghosts instead of trying to help the people right in front of you. The people still alive. Still grieving.” She wiped at her face, shaking her head. “You left.”

“I had to find them, Faragonda. They were my best friends.”

“They were mine too!” She cried out. “They were mine too. I was grieving for them, praying for them to come back. And I needed you there. To help… And you left.”

Hagen bowed his head. “I know… And I’m… I’m sorry, Faragonda. I wish I could change it… But I can’t.”

“No. You can’t. But you can make it right.” Faragonda swallowed. “I’m going to bring those students in here, I’m going to bring Bloom in here. And you’re going to tell her everything you know about Oritel and Marion and Daphne.”

Hagen gave a nod. “Of course. I’d love to see her. To meet her, officially.” (The last time he’d seen her, she was a baby with bright eyes and red hair. Was she still like that?)

“And then you’re going to stay and recover at Alfea. And you’re going to socialize. You’re going to catch up with the rest of us.” She paused. “You’re going to _talk_ to me.”

“I owe you that much.”

“And you _will not run away again._ ” Her eyes narrowed, negative energy swirling around her. “Because if you do decide to run away without a goodbye again, I will consider you dead and leave you to rot.”

Hagen extended his good hand to her. “A deal.”

Faragonda walked over to him, tentatively taking his hand in hers. (She still wore her ring. _Their_ ring.) “A deal.”


End file.
